Jesus Gives Better Rest

We can't disregard warnings; we see them all around us all the time, and we take them to heart when we encounter them. We need to make sure that we do the same thing with the warnings we find in Scripture.

So, open with us to Hebrews chapter 4 as we consider some of the heavy warnings that are found from God. Would you take out your Bibles while you're standing and open them to the book of Hebrews chapter 4? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Hebrews is right near the end of your Bible, right after the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy and Philemon.

Hebrews chapter 4, we're going to pick it up in verse 1. It's almost hard to believe we're actually in chapter 4 by now. Some of you thought I wouldn't even be out of chapter 1 by now; it's amazing.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1, reads: "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He said, 'So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.' Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, for He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: 'And God rested on the seventh day from all His works,' and again in this place, 'They shall not enter My rest.'

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, He designates a certain day, saying in David, 'Today,' after such a long time as it has been said, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.' For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day.

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, for he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from all his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. Knowing then that we have a great High Priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I believe it certain that many, if not most of us, need Your grace and Your mercy right now. And so we come before You and we say, God, that You would pour out Your grace in this place. We thank You, Jesus, that You are gracious, long-suffering, and merciful. We need that mercy and grace constantly.

God, I pray that we would be those who come boldly before Your throne of grace to obtain it at any time, but we would also be those who boldly declare that grace to others. Would You, by Your word, which is living and powerful, transform us today by the renewing of our minds so that we would be able to display this week what is Your good and perfect will? We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

I've discovered something in my eight-plus years as a parent of four kids: my kids love pizza. It's not an amazing truth, but it's true. They love pizza, and if I would give them the opportunity, I think they would eat pizza every single day. They would eat it every time we have dinner.

Not only do they love pizza, but they also love ice cream and frozen yogurt. They love to go get frozen yogurt, where they load up on the frozen yogurt and weigh it. When my family goes to get frozen yogurt, there's like 30 pounds of yogurt and toppings there. If I would let them, every day for dinner they would choose pizza, and for dessert, frozen yogurt.

But as good parents, my wife and I try to make sure that we get some sort of balance in their diet, ensuring that they don't eat pizza every single day and frozen yogurt every single day. They do occasionally, and that's a treat.

But we try to sneak in some vegetables, some salad, and some broccoli. Of course, we have to doctor up the healthy things with Parmesan cheese on the broccoli so they'll eat it. They don't really know that it's broccoli because there's Parmesan cheese all over it. They call it "stinky cheese." We need more stinky cheese on this! I can get them to eat it if I kind of dupe them into eating the good, healthy things.

Truth be told, I like pizza too. I like Felipe's pizza. Oh, yeah! Listen, if you've never had Felipe's pizza, do yourself a favor. If you can hold your cheese, if you have a problem with dairy, Felipe's is not for you. It's like bad news; it could be toxic to your system. But if you've never had a "fit for a king" at Felipe's, this afternoon will be a great time. This is not a paid advertisement, but it should be!

Here's the great thing about Felipe's down here on Grand Avenue: after you get done eating your large "fit for a king," you can walk out of Felipe's, take a left, go just a block and a half up Grand Avenue, and turn right on Calmia to get to Esco Gelato. Now again, if you have a problem with dairy, it's not for you. But Felipe's pizza and Esco Gelato—mmm, my goodness! If I could, I might possibly eat that all the time. But I know it's not a good idea. I keep trying to tell myself that there are some health ramifications if you ate that constantly. I'd be a little bit bigger than I am right now.

Now, at this point, you might be wondering what in the world this has to do with Hebrews chapter four. More than you might realize. You see, I, like many of you—probably most of you—love pizza and gelato, and I love the pizza and gelato of Romans chapter eight. All of them have to do with Italy, by the way; it's good stuff. Romans chapter eight has some great things in it, and we eat it up. If you've been around the Bible for a while, you've probably encountered some of the verses in Romans chapter eight, and there are some really good things there. Encouraging things, things that you might use to encourage yourself when you're going through a trial or a difficulty, and things you probably have encouraged others with as well.

You're going through a trial or a difficulty. There are quite a few verses in fact from Romans chapter eight that end up on cards of encouragement. We commit them to memory and we think on them. There is some good stuff, like Romans chapter eight, verse one: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." That is good gelato right there—no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

But it gets better from there. You get down to Romans chapter eight, verse 28, and I'm certain that a number of you have committed that to memory. You've probably encouraged people with that before: "And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God and are the called according to His purposes." We know that all things work together for good, and that's just kind of like the launch pad. It goes up from there.

Let me read to you some more from Romans chapter eight, going on from verse 28 to verse 29: "For whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? That's good news that keeps going. He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, and is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written, "For Your sake, all day long we are killed; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That is like savory salvation; we might call it sweet security. There in Romans chapter eight, we eat that stuff up, and we would love to eat that stuff up every single day, all the time, taking in that great salvation, that great security of Romans chapter eight.

There is some good stuff there—great stuff to be had. However, I am concerned that only ever living on such a diet from the Scriptures might lead to an imbalance. It might, in some ways, lead us to a flabby faith. This is why I think that the author of the Book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter five, just one chapter from where we are at, says this in the last three verses of Hebrews chapter five, beginning at verse twelve:

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. You have need of milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes of only milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is just a child, a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are full-aged, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

As we have been going through the first four chapters of the Book of Hebrews, you may have noticed that this is a tough book. There are some teachings, some warnings, and we really got into them last week. We will look at some more this week and even more when we get to chapter six and chapter ten. There are warnings here in Hebrews that are hard to chew and difficult to swallow, and maybe even more difficult to digest. The warnings in this passage sting a bit when we read them. They are hard for us to comprehend, to lay hold of, and to hold on to.

In fact, in this very section of Scripture that we just read, we see in verse twelve that the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart—the living word of God. It is a two-edged sword. There is the wonderful cutting edge of the security found in Romans chapter eight, but there are also some heavy warnings in the Scriptures—warnings that cause us to pause and that sometimes might even shake us.

These are not just what we read here in Hebrews, but also things like what Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He said there will be many in that day, the day of judgment, who will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do all kinds of mighty works in your name?" And I will say, Jesus says, "I will say to him, depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness." Those are challenging, frightening words.

I think that even many seasoned Christians, people who've been around the Bible for a while, come to a passage like that and there's no way to read it without thinking, "Man, Lord, I don't want to ever hear you say, 'Depart from me, I never knew you.'" These are challenging, heavy sorts of things.

As a good Father, God knows that there needs to be health in our Christian life. He says, "Yes, I want you to enjoy the sweetness of Romans chapter 8, but you need to cut your teeth on some of the difficult things that are also found in here." What sort of hard things of doctrine? We see it right here; we are in the middle of a warning section of Hebrews. It started in chapter 3 and continues through chapter 4.

We know that we are in the middle of it because we read the very first word of Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1. It's the word "therefore," which indicates that this is a continuation from what we just read. A student of the Bible, every time you come to the word "therefore," has to ask the question, "What's it there for?" It always points us back to the previous section.

The author of this book, I think, is Timothy. He really loves to use this transitional word; he uses it 28 times in these 13 chapters. There is a progression of thought that he is trying to move us through, and he keeps going, "Therefore, because of what you just read, we need to remember this."

So, we need to jump back just a few verses. You are in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1; skip back three verses to chapter 3, verse 16. In Hebrews 3:16, it says, "For who having heard rebelled?" Now, remember, the author here is talking about the children of Israel who came out of Egypt led by Moses. He is referring to that whole generation of people who were sprung out of Egypt by God's power and might, and yet they didn't continue to follow faithfully.

He says, "For who having heard rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Now, with whom was He angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?"

So, we see that they could not enter into the promised land, enter into rest, because of unbelief. Therefore, because of this, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Since a promise remains of entering...

His rest let us fear. Those are heavy words. Let us fear, and I think it would be right to say we don't like to be in a state of fear. We don't like that place. Yet, the author of the Book of Hebrews says we need to take heed and be on guard against this very thing possibly happening.

Point number one in your outline: Israel's failure to experience and enjoy God's rest under the old covenant is a warning against our failure under the new. Israel's failure to experience and enjoy God's rest under the old covenant serves as a warning for us today.

Now, that statement invites the objection of the defense attorney among us. They might say, "Objection, your honor! Speculative and irrelevant. Just because the children of Israel thousands of years ago didn't come into the promised land does not mean that we, who are with the church now, are not going to come into the experience of this eternal rest in heaven." This objection seems to suggest that it doesn't fit and is not relevant to the whole situation. It appears to be speculation based on that historical context.

Yet, Timothy tells us right here that it is a very clear point. If God, who does not change—this is how God is revealed in the Bible, as immutable and unchangeable—if God who does not change dealt in times past in one way, then can we not conclude that He will do so again?

At this point, those who hold to what is sometimes referred to as presuppositional theology may object. They may have an issue with this line of reasoning. However, just because I don't like where an argument leads doesn't mean that the argument is wrong. I have to take notice of the things of Scripture and consider what the Scripture says.

Yet, the human heart—mine and yours—doesn't like tension. We don't like anxiety; we don't like fear. So, when we come to a passage like this, we want to find a quick resolution. We want to resolve it quickly and jump back into a place of certainty, getting off the uncomfortable ground of tension. This is similar to passages like what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, or in passages like what Timothy says here in Hebrews chapters three and four, we find ourselves feeling uncertain. It can be disconcerting; we don't like that tension. Based on this passage of Scripture, as well as the emails and conversations I had this past week following last week's message, it’s clear that people are uncomfortable with this uncertainty. We want things to be resolved in our minds. We want to believe that it’s not possible for someone to miss the rest that God offers.

Yet, Timothy warns us to be cautious and to not miss that rest. Those who hold a presupposed theological position surrounding eternal security argue that it’s impossible for someone to miss that rest. Consequently, they often find ways to sidestep these warnings. They try to explain them away, saying, "Yes, I know the warning is there, but there must be another reason for it." They attempt to rationalize that it’s not really saying what it seems to be saying.

You may wonder if people actually do that. Yes, even some Bible teachers whom I thoroughly respect and whose commentaries I often read and quote from do this. One such Bible commentator, whose name I won’t mention, commented on this very passage. He stated that as we approach chapter four of Hebrews, we are right in the middle of a warning that began in chapter three, verse seven. That’s true.

Initially, I told you that the book of Hebrews is written to Christians; it is written to believers. However, this commentator then states that scattered throughout Hebrews are warnings to unbelievers. Wait, what? Didn’t he just say that this was written to Christians? This is written to believers, but now he’s suggesting that there are warnings meant for non-Christians? This creates a contradiction.

Let me be clear: I highly respect this Bible teacher, but I consider that to be expositional misconduct. Why? Because of this inconsistency. Let’s jump back to chapter three for just a moment.

And look at verse 1: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling." Is this not written to Christians? Yes, it's written to Christians. It's written to brothers and sisters who have been partakers of the calling of God. Those whom He called, He also justified. Wait a minute, that sounds like Christians.

Well, let's continue. Right in the middle of the warnings of chapter 3, we read this: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." But exhort one another, brothers and sisters, daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have become partakers of Christ. Yes, that's non-Christians, right? Non-Christians are partakers of Jesus, right? Not exactly. This doesn't fit with my presupposed theology. This causes tension, and I don't like tension. I want the sure footing of knowing that this can't possibly happen, as is being said here in this passage. So, He must be speaking to non-Christians. Except I've never met a non-Christian who is a partaker of Christ. We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.

Point number two on your outline: We cannot disregard warnings just because we don't like them. Listen, I've been reading the Bible for a long time, and I've come across a few warnings I don't like. Let me give you an example. There's this one warning that really bothers me. It's in James chapter 3, verse 1. It says, "Let not many of you become teachers, because you shall receive a stricter judgment." I don't like that.

Why don't I like that? I'm a teacher of the Bible. Some people have told me before, "I don't want to become a teacher because I read that James 3:1." I go, "Yeah, thanks." That warning may not bother you so much because you think, "I'm not a teacher; I'll never be a teacher." But it bothers me. I don't like it, but I can't disregard warnings.

Just because I don't like certain warnings doesn't mean we can ignore them. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 3, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is therefore profitable, useful for doctrine, for reproof or rebuke, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be mature, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Unfortunately, in our modern American Christian context, there are a lot of books being written and many churches that preach a constant, happy, encouraging message. They can substantiate much of this with the Bible and back it up with Scripture. However, in doing so, we sometimes set aside other passages because they are not as encouraging. For example, "Let not many of you become teachers, because we receive a stricter judgment." That verse doesn't fit with my desire for a happy message; I don't want to feel any tension or fearful constraint in my life and walk. I would much rather hear something uplifting.

At this point, you might be thinking this is a downer message. I understand; I've been studying it all week long, and my poor family has had to listen to it. The Word of God is living, powerful, and sharp. Sometimes it cuts, and sometimes it cuts deep. The deep, cutting sword of Scripture can hurt, but like a surgeon who has to remove a tumor, God sometimes has to take away things from us that are not beneficial. Thus, the cutting of Scripture comes.

I realize that when we venture into topics like this, discussing issues of salvation—whether a person can enter the rest or if they are secure in their place—we are entering the discussion of what is called Calvinism or Arminianism. There is a lot of debate surrounding this topic. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these terms, great, God bless you; that's wonderful. Stay there.

However, there is this discussion, and those who find themselves on the side that says these warnings are not for Christians often accuse those who hold a different position of cherry-picking their arguments and verses.

Just not looking at these other passages that are so important, like Romans chapter 8, the fact is that those who hold that position are doing the exact same thing when they say, "Yeah, this passage, I know it's written to Christians, but not that one." That's just cherry-picking the things that you like in favor of that which you don't like.

Now, I don't hold to a Calvinistic position, but I also don't hold to an Arminian position because I believe that both are taught in the Bible. God is completely sovereign, and we have a responsibility. The person who holds to the sovereignty of God position, the Calvinist, says it's not possible for you to stand in the middle. You can't be on one side; you have to be on one side or the other in this whole discussion. You can't stand in the middle. The person who holds the Arminian position says the same thing: you can't stand in the middle on this; you've got to choose one or the other.

I said, "Yeah, but both are taught in the Bible, so I'm going to hold to a both-and position." They respond, "No, that doesn't fit." Why? Because there's tension, and the human heart doesn't like tension. We want a solid resolution to these things, and yet the Bible doesn't afford us that.

Why? Well, sometimes in the exact same passage, in the same sentence, both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man are seen. One of my favorites is in Philippians chapter 2. It says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." That sounds like the responsibility of man. The very next clause of the statement, the next breath, says, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." That sounds like the sovereignty of God.

So, work out your own salvation—I'm working, that's my responsibility. Yes, for it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure—so God is working; it's His working. Yes, but I don't like that there's tension, and I want resolution to these things.

There are Romans 8 and then Hebrews 3 and 4, and there's a tension. You say, "Well, how do you work that out?" Well, I'm able to believe in a God who can bring resolution to the tension, even if I can't fully comprehend it. Just because I can't figure God out doesn't make the whole thing wrong. In fact, if I could figure God out, would He really be all that great? If my measly brain could totally figure everything out?

Yet the Scriptures say in Isaiah 55, "His ways are above our ways; His thoughts beyond our thoughts."

Finding out, should it be odd to us that there are things we can't fully resolve, and yet both are taught in the Bible? God is completely sovereign, and if you come here when I'm teaching through Romans chapter 8, you would swear that guy's a Calvinist. But if you come here when I'm preaching through Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, you might think, "Oh, I don't know, he sounds like an Arminian." Why? Because both are in the Bible. Yes, there's some tension, but both are in the Bible.

He says, "Let us fear; let us beware that we don't miss the rest that He gives." This leads us to two questions: First, is there a rest waiting for us? Second, how can we be sure that we don't miss that rest? Because if there is a rest waiting for us, I don't want to miss that bus. That sounds really good. The fact is, all of us are longing for and looking forward to rest. Even in our everyday practical experience, we are all anticipating rest.

In fact, the way that God created everything, He set it up so that we would anticipate rest every single week. In His very way of creation, He created for six days, and on the seventh, He rested. Then He commanded us, "Six days shall you work, and on the seventh, you shall rest." Every one of us has this anticipation of rest. When Monday comes, we often think, "Oh, it's Monday. It's just another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday, because that's my fun day. I don't have to run day." Someone should write a song about that!

Then Wednesday comes, and we think, "Oh yeah, we're halfway through. It's hump day!" Finally, Friday arrives, and we say, "Thank God it's Friday!" We look forward to rest. Occasionally, I meet people who say, "I'm getting ready to retire." I find that this happens as I'm talking with guys in the fire department or with teachers and law enforcement. I ask them, "When are you going to retire?" They might say, "272 days." A few months later, I check in again, and they say, "Yes, 110 days, counting down the time." They know the exact minute they will get to rest.

Now, I hate to break it to you, but I've met some retired people, and it doesn't seem like much rest. Yet, we all have this desire. Have you ever...

I had a holiday planned, a vacation planned, and it's been set for several months. But you're just counting the time because we have this desire and anticipation for rest. I think God planted that in us; He put that in us so that we would seek for rest, that we'd long for it, and that we'd want it. And we do.

So, is there a rest, or is this just some big cosmic jip? Is there a rest waiting for us? The author of the Book of Hebrews is writing a defense for all the things that he's saying for Christians who came out of Judaism. He always goes back to the Old Testament; he goes back to the Hebrew Scriptures as a defense of the tradition of the Jews. He does that here in this passage when he writes in verse 2 of Hebrews chapter 4, "For indeed the gospel was preached to us just as it was preached to them." Who is the "them"? The Jews who were taken out of Egypt. The good news was preached to them just like the good news was preached to us.

What good news was preached to them? If you trust God, He will take you out of Egypt and bring you into a land and life of rest. This sounds similar to the good news we've been given: if you trust God, He will take you out of the bondage and slavery to sin in this Egypt, this world, and He will bring you into a place of rest. So, the gospel was preached to them as it was preached to us, but the word which they heard did not profit them. Why not? Because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it.

For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said, "So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest." He quotes from the Psalms, specifically Psalm 95. He is quoting the fact that God said to this people, Israel, who came out of Egypt under Moses, that they did not follow God faithfully. They became faithless and rebelled against God. So, God swore in His wrath that they would not enter His rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. They could have come into that rest.

Why? Well, God created rest. For He has spoken in a certain place, verse 4, of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works." Now, just as an aside, I love the way that the author of the Book of Hebrews quotes the Old Testament. He says, "It was said somewhere in another place; I don't remember where, but it was there. You can go look for it." He said in another place, "On the seventh day, God rested." Well, that's Genesis—Genesis chapter 2. God said in that place, and on the seventh day, He rested from all His works.

Rested from all His work, so God has a rest that He experienced and enjoyed. We follow the logic: God rested, and there's rest waiting. Again, in this place, they shall not enter My rest. God rested; He experienced that, but the children of Israel did not experience it. Why? Because God said they couldn't, for some reason. Therefore, it remains that some must enter this rest, and to those whom it was first preached did not enter it. Why? Because of disobedience.

Verse six again designates a certain day, saying in David, in the Psalms, David said, "Today." When is this rest going to come? Well, you can enter in now, today. Really? I can step into that rest at this moment? Well, that's what David said thousands of years ago. After such a long time, as it has been said, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

For if Joshua—now he brings another Old Testament character into the story—who is Joshua? He is the leader who succeeded Moses. After Moses didn't enter into the promised land and died, God raised up another leader named Joshua, who brought the children of Israel into the promised land. If Joshua had given them rest, then he would not have afterwards spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself ceased from his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. So what is the author of the book of Hebrews saying? He says, "Listen, God experienced and enjoyed rest on the seventh day. He rested and called His people to come into that rest, but they never came into it because of their disobedience. They never experienced that rest, even though they came into the promised land under Joshua. They still didn't experience that rest, or else God would not have said there remains a rest for the people of God."

Follow the kind of logic he's going through here: God rested, they didn't come into that rest, so there's still some rest. The first question is, is there really a rest for us? Well, yeah, God has a rest prepared for us, a place where we cease from all of our labors. That sounds pretty good.

The second question is, how can we be sure that we do not come short of it? Because that's the warning being given here. Well, look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 2: "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them."

But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest.

Point number three on your outline: the people of God take possession of the rest of God by faith in God, leading to faithfulness to God. The people of God take possession of the rest of God by faith in God, leading to faithfulness in God.

Now, at this point, the astute listener will say, "Wait a minute, where did you get the faithfulness to God portion here?" Because I was with you: the people of God take possession of the rest of God by faith in God. I was with you with the text until you said "and faithfulness to God."

Well, why did the children of Israel not come into this rest? Hebrews chapter 4, verse 6 states that those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. So it seems like faith and faithfulness go hand in hand.

How? Why? Simply this: I can say that I love you, but love is rather intangible. It's hard to see or grasp until it produces some sort of works that demonstrate that love. God said in the Old Testament, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Yet the children of Israel, to whom that message was given, questioned God's love. Why? Because they kept experiencing punishment and thought, "It just doesn't seem like you love us very much."

In fact, I was in New York right after 9/11 a number of years ago. I was there with a couple of pastors, and Rick was there with me. While we were there, we were talking with people and handing out these cards that said, "Would you like prayer?" It was from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which had a prayer hotline. I handed this prayer card to a woman who looked like she was having a really good time shopping on 5th Avenue. She walked about 20 feet away and then came back with tears streaming down her face. She started talking with me, and I think Rick was there with me as well. She was of Jewish descent and said, "God doesn't love us anymore."

That was her view. All the bad things that happened to us made her believe that God doesn't love us. Yet God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Words can be intangible, but the demonstration needs to be there. Faith is also intangible; it's not seen until it's worked out.

Point number four on your outline: our saving faith is seen in our faithfulness. James the Apostle gives us another challenging word in James chapter 2. You can read through the whole section later if you'd like. I only have three minutes and ten seconds, so I'll just highlight it. In James chapter 2, verse 17, he says, "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." He goes on to say, "I will show you my faith by my works." You believe that there is one God? You do well; even the demons believe and tremble. But do you not want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

He then gives two illustrations: Abraham and another individual from the Old Testament named Rahab. The last verse, James chapter 2, verse 26, states, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." Where there is not faithfulness—works resulting from faith—we have every reason to question whether or not there is true faith.

This can be uncomfortable because, at this moment, there are a number of you who have a person that has popped into your mind. This is a person who once went to church with you, someone who maybe even shared the gospel with you once upon a time, and now they don't seem to be walking with the Lord. There seems to be no evidence of faith, no fruit on that tree. Yet, you've been consoling yourself by saying, "Well, it's okay, it's okay because they prayed a prayer, and they're okay," right?

Well, Timothy said, "Let us fear lest any of you come short of this rest." There is no rest where there is fear, and there's no fear where there's rest. So, where does this fearlessness come from?

Point number five: faith and faithfulness lead to restful fearlessness. You may say, "Well, I want..."

To know, I want to have a real, certain knowledge, assurance, and absolute expectation. Where does that come from? Well, it begins with faith. Jesus has a word for you today. If you find yourself in a place of being a little bit restless or fearful, He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

You see, the danger and concern that the author of the Book of Hebrews had for the group of Christians he was writing to was that they would leave the place of trusting in Jesus to go back to their old life. So he says, "Listen, you need to stay put. You need to have your confidence in Him, trusting in Him." Then it will begin to be seen in your life; it will be the outgrowth of your life, the fruit of the Spirit coming forth.

Yes, the Word of God is living and powerful, and it cuts deep. It can be painful, but God sometimes has to say, "Listen, this is an area that I've got to deal with so that I can bring forth fruit in your life." Sometimes, pruning is painful.

He reminds us in the last verses of Hebrews chapter 4: "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our faith, our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace in our time of need."

Listen, there is only mercy and grace found at the throne of Jesus—no other place. We should come boldly and continually to that throne to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. The more I walk with Jesus, the more I realize that I need that like every second of every day. That is why we can come boldly to His throne of grace. Why? Because we need it, and that is the only place that it is found.

So hold fast. You say, "Well, I want to be sure." Keep your trust in Jesus. Keep your trust in Jesus.

They say, "But what about this family member, this friend, this co-worker that used to walk with Jesus?" Well, they need to come back to Jesus. The Scriptures say to make your call and election sure. How? Stay with Jesus. There's only one way. You might say, "Well, that sounds so narrow." Well, it is. Jesus said the way is narrow. I didn't say it; I didn't make it up. He said it.

You have to fight with Him. If you have a problem with Him, fight with Him. He always wins. In my experience, you might end up walking with a limp, so be careful. But you can take it up with Him if you want to. I knew a man once who said, "I want to wrestle with God like Jacob did." I don't think that's a good idea, and he's been pretty broken ever since then. Not a good idea.

Lord, we need Your grace. Would You stand with me? Lord, we need Your grace today; we can't function without it. Thank You, Jesus, that You are a gracious God, that You reveal Yourself as the merciful High Priest. Lord, we want to walk in steadfast assurance of Your sovereign grace, and there's only one place to have that, and that's in You, trusting in You.

So God, help us to trust You, to follow You by faith. The faithfulness will come forth from that. But Lord, help us to hold fast to our confidence and not to disregard warnings just because we don't like them. Help us to trust in You more today than we did yesterday and more every day after that.

As we're standing here this morning, you might find yourself in a place of restlessness today. You don't have this assurance of Christ's work in you. If you'd like to receive His grace, He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He said, "Come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in your time of need." The door is open; He opened the door. Jesus made the way open by dying on the cross for us.

If you'd like to put your trust in Him today, to receive His grace and His forgiveness, I want to give you a chance to do that. If that's you, would you just lift up your hand high? Is there anyone here this morning who wants to receive the grace and mercy of God?

Jesus, His forgiveness, He came and died for us. Lord, we thank You for Your grace. We pray that You would give us a boldness not only to come before Your throne of grace, but also a boldness to share that grace with others this week. We pray this in Your mighty and precious name.